Part two Of Ecuador

The girl braced herself for a rocky landing. Because no one tells you about the smooth landings that happen when flying, only the terrible ones. When they landed all perfect and according to schedule, the girl's smile stretched from ear to ear. As she waited her turn to get out of her aisle, the girl saw that Olivia and Meredith, the two sisters, were waiting for her. She smiled even bigger. She would not have to enter Miami by herself. God is good. 


All of the girls exited the plane. When they were out of the terminal, the Cuban woman spotted them and pointed them towards baggage. Three escalators, two flights of stairs, and a tram later they entered the baggage claim room. That's when three college-aged looking kids in green shirts similar to the girls rose up to greet them. Meredith immediately introduced herself and her sister.


So when the older ones looked at the girl who thought she was going to fly to Miami alone, who wore a pink bow to cheer herself up, she replied, "I'm Darria." 


The one guy in the group of older kids remarked, "Oh, so its 'Dare-E-uh.' We all thought it was, 'Dar-E-uh.' Pretty." Darria decided she liked these kids. 


They all started to make their way towards another part of the airport, following the older kids. The guy addressed the group, "What team are you guys on?" Meredith and Olivia responded at the same time, like sisters often do, with the number eight. The guy slapped five with the sisters and said, "That's my team!" Darria felt a little left out when she had to respond with one. But she kept a cheery attitude because she was here in Miami, and the people seemed to be nice. 


They waited for a while and then a bus came and picked up a large number of lime green shirted children and carried them to a hotel Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She got off the bus hauling her bags and was attacked by a girl hugging her. She knew exactly who it was. Mekenzie Goley. I girl she met and corresponded with before the trip. Her dad runs the whole thing and they became good friends via texting, Facebook, and email. Again Darria thanked God. She wasn't alone. She knew Mekenzie. And Mekenzie knew everyone. 


After a brief chat, Darria had to go and sign in. She gave her passport to a very serious man and was told to find the table with her team number on it. She located the long table with the big number one on it and surveyed her soon-to-be leaders. There was a man with his hat turned backwards, wearing over sized sunglasses, and toms. And a woman with wild curly hair, a blue bandana, and the cutest shoes she'd ever seen. They approached her and said so enthusiastically that it almost scared her, "What team are you on?" 


Darria replied, "One!" A party erupted over at table one. The pair was giving her high fives and hugging her. Darria smiled and they asked her her name. Her name was checked off what she guessed was a list and then the woman proceeded to tell her what her name was. 


"My name is Lia and this is my husband Chris. Those two over there are my kids Judah who is eleven and Mattie who is nine. I have another one somewhere. He's Sammy and he's is fourteen." Darria looked at Lia and decided she liked her. She was someone to be trusted and she geniually seemed excited to be her leader. Lia was shorter than her which was something that always stood out in Darria's mind due to the fact that she was considered so short herself. Lia strung a couple blue beads around her neck and gave her a blue bandana that matched her own. Darria guessed the color scheme of Team One was blue. She smiled again. 


God never left her side. She didn't have to enter Miami alone, and she wasn't alone in Fort Lauderdale. She knew Mekenzie, and Chris and Lia seemed amazing. No, God wasn't going to leave her. She just needed to be open to the small gifts he was giving her.